Kidsfirst Kindergartens Bush Street Centre of Innovation - 2006-08

Chapter 7: Findings, insights and implications

Central character develops a community of learners which extends beyond the kindergarten. It impacts on children, families, teachers and others and its use enables and heightens learning and leading potential for all.

This chapter has two parts. The first addresses the first three research questions and summarises the findings that have been described in previous chapters.

In the second part we address the fourth question by discussing some of the key insights that emerged as part of the research process. We conclude with the words of a parent and child reflecting on their time at kindergarten.

Within this research project we have identified that central character comes out of the experiences and creativity of the teachers, and develops further through the stories children, parents, whānau, visitors bring to the kindergarten. These stories grow out of the incidents that experienced teachers recognise as having curriculum potential and choose to highlight as they work with the children and families. Creating an environment together is an important feature of central character stories. We have found that we work together to build a community connected to the kindergarten at Bush Street. A central character is a tool for engaging the children, their parents and the teachers in a learning triad where all three groups grow and learn concurrently. We have found by investigating central character story how all of us are learning together, and that we are learning about the things that are most important to us at the time. What we learn about is put forward by any of the people connected to the story times. How it is woven in is often (but not exclusively) managed by the teachers. Story lines allow us to address social issues and personal problems in ways that are both non-threatening and memorable. They also allow us to have fun and explore a wide range of subject matter. Our community has learnt that central character story provides an approach to implementing Te Whāriki as part of the programme. It can address current urgent issues, excitements and pressures. Central characters can repeat key ideas in ways that avoid tedious repetition: by linking past stories with the present we weave, together, a culture of ongoing learning.

7.2 Our learning about teaching, families and community

In this section we discuss five aspects of our work that raise questions about ongoing teacher education and practice. In each case we wondered about the implications of these insights and sought comment on them during the process of dissemination.

Underpinning philosophies

Our key constructs (Environment Holding History, Web of Values, Common Threads of Learning,  Wall of Strategies,  Ripples of Involvement) underpin our practice when we use central character as a tool to support learning (p. 45 ). We have found that our investigations into central character story have given us a lens through which to view our practice. We see that the underpinnings of central character stories also underpin the whole of our practice. Even though we do not use central character in our afternoon sessions with younger children we find that the same five key constructs permeate all our teaching.

One of our insights from this project is the importance of identifying and agreeing on key constructs as we thought deeply about our work. We were not told which things to explore and develop; the ones we wrote about emerged as being important at different points in the project. This is important because it gives people a common ground from which to work, a common point of understanding that weaves the people and the practices in this Kindergarten with Te Whāriki; it gives points of agreement around which to be confident in actions and practices. The key constructs are a base around which it is possible for teachers to weave their creativity, secure in the knowledge that their work (no matter how unexpected) is in line with the underpinning philosophy of that team. This is a process that happens over time and is ongoing: philosophies change and grow as teams acknowledge their day to day learning and when teams work through sticky issues and differences in understanding.

We see the use of central character story is a tool for our place and time at Bush Street; it is not intended as a formula for teaching in other centres even though it works well for us. It is the development of underpinning philosophies that is of key importance to teaching teams. We wonder about the implications of these ideas for (a) teacher education in colleges and universities and (b) ongoing centre development.  The difficulties around and the importance of clarifying key underpinning philosophies within early childhood teams need further exploration. In what ways are centres currently working together around shared beliefs? We have found investigating our work invaluable.

Teacher as a leader of learning

The adult teachers in the centre have an overview of many things happening within the kindergarten and the community. Teachers are able to choose among, and weave together, strands from the many possible stories that could be told. We have become very aware of the key role a teacher plays in directing the flow of a story. We see this control of the flow as being an important responsibility for an adult who is leading or facilitating the learning within the large group part of the session. For most of a session children engage in their own chosen activities and teachers build on their interests.

We have been challenged around the notion that the central character story is teacher-directed and we have justified this in chapter 4. We recognise the tension between free play and teacher-directed activity and suggest that character story practice is one  “re-solution” of this “wicked problem”

Teacher thinking and writing

We have found that the one-pager way of documenting thinking has led to possibilities of writing about our thinking in a way that is manageable. By documenting our ideas informally we are able to bring them together to identify common points of understanding and to explore subtle differences in thinking. Such writing can record and clarify conversations and provides the basis for further discussion and clarification. Writing one-pagers is a short punchy way of meeting a variety of purposes and opening up conversations to include those who are less forthcoming with their ideas. We will continue to use this kind of writing as a way of pulling together different people’s ideas into shared reports, for recording professional development, and inviting parent comment and contribution.

We see this way of approaching data collection for research or report writing as having advantages that go beyond this project and wonder how the sector might, in the future, use similar strategies. We see this as an approach that fosters teacher creativity and articulation. This is a move beyond a “tick the boxes” or “fill in the box” approach to teacher accountability. This approach echoes the development of learning stories from something that tended to be formulaic to something more creative.

Focus on parent education, involvement and learning

As we concluded this report we wrote a key concept page about parent involvement and education (Ripples of Involvement, p. 47 , above). We realise that much of our thinking is about children in relation to their families, daily lives, and experiences. Character story is a tool we use to draw in and involve families. It has been helpful in enabling us to draw in those parents who avoid, or are shy of, participating in their child’s learning, or do not know how.

We see the involvement of parents and informal parent education and support as one of the most important aspects of our teaching because of the impact it has, not only on children, but also on the competence and confidence of parents. The kind of learning partnership we aspire to is built on relationships around meaningful conversations that are relevant to the parent: such conversations build trust between parties. Central character allows the teachers to open up and continue these conversations in a non-threatening way while at the same time modelling new patterns of thinking.

Arguably, parent education is one of the key strategies for addressing New Zealand’s endemic social problems related to nurturing and caring for the self-esteem of our young people. We wonder whether the holistic approach to the curriculum that flows through character story might be relevant to parent education in other settings, both within early childhood education and beyond.

Emerging knowledge in an active community

All of the insights we have discussed above are based on an understanding of learning as being emergent and ongoing: there are no final answers, only “wicked problems” that need to be addressed over and over again, in context, by teachers who are creative and skilled problem-solvers. All the stories we weave occur at an instant in time, yet they are built on our past experiences and knowledge and will continue in various forms into the future. Similarly, this report represents our thinking in December 2008, based on our experiences in the past, and we are confident our ideas will continue to grow into the future. We see this reality as reflecting the understanding that educators are all, all the time, learners who are working together to make meaning that will support the learning of children and their families.

At the heart of this project we are seeking to build learning within our community. It also happens that we are able to use the strategies to address the “wicked” social problems we encounter. These cannot be formulaic solutions, and will always rely on teacher experience and expertise - the ways we address them are emerging constantly within praxis.

At the end, we are not so sure whether it is central character story itself that supports collective learning, or whether it is something more subtle. We have found that what really matters are the ways teachers foster a sense of history and wellbeing by making shared values visible and by fostering healthy and respectful relationships. Whatever it is, the discussions are ongoing because we see both ourselves and our communities as constantly learning and adapting within a culture based on the values expressed in Te Whāriki.